Methownet BB

We've got quite a bit of smoke in the air right now.

There's a fire about 10 miles south of Stehekin on the SW side of the lake, looks like three or four miles from (below) Holden. Air resources are surveying it right now.

This is when Pioneer started last year and FS said they thought it was going to be a "cool moist summer" so they pulled early crews off of it and let it go until it really blew up. Hopefully someone else is making decisions on this one.

.Craig Howard.

I believe this fire is the pomas fire on the other side of lake Chelan at 163 acres according to watch duty

Update: Saturday June 14, 2025
Fire: Pomas Fire
Acres: 50
Cause: Undetermined
Location: 36 air miles northwest of Entiat, WA
Fuels/Topography: heavy dead and down timber, rugged terrain
Yesterday: Smokejumpers responded within an hour to wildfire first reported by a hiker in the Glacier Peak Wilderness on the morning of June 13th. Throughout the day on Friday, a helicopter and two scooper planes worked continuously to limit new growth on the Pomas Fire. Inaccessible by road, the fire is burning midslope at over 5,000 feet in elevation in heavy dead and down timber from the 2015 Wolverine Fire. While there has been no lightning in the area since late-May, it is not unusual for a strike to smolder for weeks, only becoming visible when the right combination of wind, sun, and drying happens.
“This weekend smokejumpers are going to continue firefighting efforts on the ground with heavy backup from air support,” said Holly Krake, Entiat-Chelan District Ranger for the Forest Service. “Our goal is to corral this thing as safely and quickly as we can.”
Today: Firefighters will continue actively suppressing the fire as well as scouting for natural containment lines, such as rock avalanche chutes, that could be effective at stopping new growth. Up to four scoopers will be working the fire, primarily dipping out of Lake Chelan though they may use the Columbia River if needed. A helicopter will also be dipping out of the local Fern and Myrtle Lakes for targeted bucket drops. Steep terrain will likely limit the ability of air tanker pilots to safely fly the fire area even if retardant were effective in dense timber where typically little, if any, retardant reaches the ground.
“Central Washington is 30 to 45 days ahead of normal for how hot and dry it is,” added Krake. “While air and ground resources are working as hard as they can to catch the fire in these first few hours and days, the Pomas Fire may be here for a while.”
Smoke: Smoke may be visible from Holden and Lake Chelan areas as well as the Trinity/Chiwawa area. For more information on smoke and air quality please visit: https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/
Closures: Myrtle Lake is still accessible. However, backcountry rangers have signed trails limiting access to Fern Lake, Larch Lakes, and further up the Entiat River trail in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Boaters on Lake Chelan are advised to avoid scoopers so they can safely do their job.
Evacuations: None, there are no structures or homes threatened at this time.
Fire Information: This will be the only update on the Pomas Fire unless significant growth occurs.

boardzoverbrainz wrote:
> - types craig as he sits alone in his 2nd home obscured by dog hair doug
> fir

boardzoverbrainz
Thanks for your thoughtful commentary.
I flew an airplane around that fire last year into Stehekin every single day on a Park Service construction project. I was intimately involved in the day to day operations until they closed the airspace. I lost six weeks of work because of the under management of that fire - and I was lucky. Everyone in Stehekin was on the verge of losing everything.

This is our only home. You are correct, however: there is some dog fur.
Go ahead and sign your name - it's the BB policy.

Craig Howard

Thanks for your perspective, Craig. Most of us living here for any length of time take the presence of smoke seriously. And the Stehekin fires last year were about as dramatic as it gets.

Robin Willlams came up with a quote that comes to mind: "If you close the door on reality, it comes in through the window."

Well said Craig.

Most days, the background sound of my day is the smoke jumper aircraft practicing overhead. It is a reminder of the serious business of fire fighting and the cost of keeping the Valley and its residents safe.

Should you lose perspective of that, take a drive up to the Thirtymile Fire Memorial sometime.

Smells like summer down in Carlton.
Air quality at 94 per purple air.
Bit hazy.

A good site for an update is Washington Wildfire Map. Here's the link, although links are not supposed to be posted on here. But when it comes to fire...
https://www.fireweatheravalanche.org/fire/state/washington